The World - News from Sept. 21, 1987

The United States has decided to send long-range mortars and mine-clearing equipment to rebels in Afghanistan, Administration sources said. The equipment, expected to arrive in October or November, will allow the rebels to more effectively attack heavily guarded military bases and air strips. The decision reflects a general U.S. assessment that the Soviet Union, while anxious to extricate its estimated 115,000 troops from Afghanistan, has not made a decision to do so if this risks the defeat of the Afghan government by the rebels, the sources said.